Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville (; ; February 23, 1680 – March 7, 1767), also known as Sieur de Bienville, was a French colonial administrator in New France. Born in Montreal, he was an early governor of French Louisiana, appointed four separate times during 1701–1743. He was the younger brother of explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. Early life Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne was the son of Charles le Moyne, born in Longueil, near Dieppe, and Catherine Primot (also known as Catherine Thierry), born in Rouen, both cities in the Province of Normandy. Charles le Moyne established his family in the settlement of Ville-Marie (present day Montreal) at an early age and had fourteen children total. Exploration in the New World At the age of seventeen, Bienville joined his brother Iberville on an expedition to establish the colony of Louisiana. In 1699, the group explored the Gulf of Mexico coastline as far as Mobile Bay, which was too shallow to go further. At the site of Belle Fontaine, they discovered an artesian spring bubbling and leaping from the beach; this spring is now 300–400 feet out in Mobile Bay. Bienville played a significant role in charting the coast near Mobile, Alabama. He also discovered the Chandeleur Islands off the coast of Louisiana, as well as Cat Island and Ship Island off the Mississippi coast, before moving westward to sail up the mouth of the Mississippi River. Eventually, the expedition reached the modern-day site of Baton Rouge and False River. In April 1699, before heading back to France, Iberville established the first settlement of the Louisiana colony: Fort Maurepas or Old Biloxi, at present-day Ocean Springs, Mississippi. He appointed Sauvolle de la Villantry as the governor and made Bienville lieutenant. Following Iberville's departure, Bienville took another expedition up the Mississippi River and encountered English ships at what is now known as English Turn. Upon hearing of this encounter on his return, Iberville ordered Bienville to establish a settlement along the Mississippi River at the first solid ground he could find. Fifty miles upriver, Bienville established Fort de la Boulaye.